Powell was celebrating his birthday at this German beer garden and left his phone at the bar.

MaryAnne Staudt, who co-owns the bar, said that Powell was upset when he returned and attempted to recover the phone and doesn't believe that it was a publicity stunt done by Apple. Staudt said she felt badly about the situation and for Powell.

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iPhone's Next Generation Found in a Bar

His last Facebook update before he lost his phone read "I underestimated how good German beer is," which he typed from his secret iPhone, according to Gizmodo, who obtained it for $5,000 from a patron who found the device.

Powell is a graduate of North Carolina State University and was celebrating his birthday at the Northern California bar March 18.

ABC News spoke to some patrons at the bar, who had mixed opinions about Powell and his missing phone. "The poor guy was here endlessly," said William Andrejko, who seemed familiar with Gray's attempt to recover the phone.

"Major mistake," said Robert Hennis, clutching a beer in his hand Tuesday afternoon. "I feel for him -- I just hope when it happened he was honest with his bosses and said I left it at a bar and he like didn't try to weasel his way into something because the truth always comes out."

Lani Berussell says she thinks it's great publicity for the local bar "but I feel bad for him, you know everyone leaves their phone."

ABC's "Good Morning America" got a look at the phone Tuesday morning. It has a camera with a flash, a brighter screen and a larger battery. Gizmodo says they complied with a request from Apple to get the phone back.

Gizmodo managed to speak briefly to Powell by phone, saying he sounded "tired and broken." There's still no word on his future as a software engineer at Apple.